I have a confession. I have never purchased a “quality” spotting scope. And the reason is quite simple. I have always felt that most spotters spend too much time not being used. The spotter / field scope option has some appeal. At least in theory. So I enjoyed finding this model of Zeiss field scope on display at NRA 2019. …

Officer Mike and I took some time off to goof off a little bit. This Norinco 213 came into The Armory a few months ago and had yet to be function tested. Of course the first round FTE’d causing a double feed. But once it got a few rounds through it, things settled down. Probably hasn’t been first in 40 …

While attending the 2019 NRA show, I saw a company that I haven’t thought about a very, very long time. Actually I wouldn’t have been surprised to hear they have gone out of business. And that company is ClipDraw. Now before all you internet experts pile on with the gotcha-game, let me school you about how things USED to be. …

Officer Mike: “You wanna see some Gucci ammo?” Marky: Not knowing what that means, “Uhhh…sure?” Officer Mike: “I got a bunch of this with a knife and suppressor. Sold the knife and it paid for both the suppressor and the ammo.” Marky: “What in the hell is that? Chrome? No wait! That’s black nickel! What in the hell!?” Officer Mike: …

The Norinco 213 is a 9×19 / 9mm Parabellum handgun made in China. It is a copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT-33. Which in itself is functionally a copy of the Browning 1911 action. Yes really. Here is how it is best explained according to Wikipedia. Norinco 213 A brief history/review of the Norinco 213 which is a Chinese …

Next week we are hoping to start construction on a shelter for the new range. It will have a metal roof, be 14×16’ in size and be equipped with some chairs and tables all year round. The goal is to give shooters a place to rest and recharge should the sun be baking us or the rain drowning us. Currently …

I get a lot of e-mails. How to do this? How to do that? And sometimes when I dig down into the basis of the question, I am shocked to discover some crazy mistake, screw-up, or mis-learned habit or thing. So if you are someone who always gets a scope zeroed, you can skip this video. And while we are …

Ep133 of the John1911 Podcast is now live: Larry Vickers’ Facebook account hacked. STEM vigil students walk out over anti-gun politics. The new falling plate rack is installed. 50 BMG is a caliber, not a model of gun. Does Wayne LaPierre have a “intern-problem”? Cheap suppressors: Freeze needs to tame the dragon. Kara Swisher thinks Jewish Ben Shapiro is a …

First off, let me get this out of the way. I am very excited about this product! A true chassis system for the Blaser R8 is a significant milestone for the most innovative, bolt action, rifle design since Paul Mauser dreamed up the K98. GRS Riflestocks out of Norway is well known worldwide for their high quality aftermarket rifle stocks …

The black knife is my daily carry knife. I have carried this or a boot version since sometime in the early 2000’s. The red knife is a factory “trainer” of the black knife. They are hard to come by since they didn’t sell well. An old colleague let me know he found a few and wanted to make sure some …

Tony N. from Australia sent us some photos showing the internal workings of the Xtek aftermarket Blaser Tac 2 magazines. These photos will be of interest to US Blaser owners who may be curious about aftermarket magazines or industrious Blaser owners who may want to copy them. Assuming Xtek doesn’t bring any into the US. Yes, I have been asking them for …

Yesterday, Freeze assembled our new falling plate rack. Personally, it’s one of my favorite pistol shooting drills. I haven’t had daily access to a rack since the Summer of 2012. It’s been a long time coming. And thanks to Freeze for the extra help that day. Sincerely, Marky www.John1911.com “Shooting Guns & Having Fun”

We are still trying to get used to the particulars of the new rifle range. And one of the most interesting aspects is it’s unique wind characteristics. The rifle range sits very high relative to most of the area. As such, we don’t get a lot of protection from the west to east winds that tend to cross the country. …

Figured I would show this. It’s a Mauser C96 chambered in 9mm Parabellum. Yes, the same caliber as your Glock 9×19 mags. Every collection needs a C96 for three reasons: It’s Han Solo’s gun! Yes, really. It’s considered the first commercially successful automatic pistol. It’s look is unique in the extreme. Without getting into all the details, there were two …